Articles of clothing apparel have been found to be one of the major causes of severe accidental burn injuries and fatalities. In addition, statistics have shown that children up to the age of fourteen years, are most susceptible to sustain burn injuries from articles of clothing apparel. In view of this, the legislatures of the states of California, Massachusetts, and Washington have outlawed the sale of flammable children's sleepwear. Many other state legislatures are also considering restrictive legislation dealing with flammable clothing.
The Federal Government, through the Department of Commerce, at first banned the sale of flammable large and small area carpets and rugs (DOC FFI - 7 and DOC FF2- 70), flammable children's sleepwear, sizes 0 to 6X (DOC FF3 - 71) and flammable mattresses (DOC FF4 - 72), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission later did the same with children's sleepwear, sizes 7 to 14 (FF5-74).
In view of these flammability laws, technology is needed to produce fabrics that meet the standards set forth in the above mentioned laws. A particular challenge to the textile and related industries was the production of flame retardant fabrics composed of blended fabrics, especially those composed of polyester/cotton fibers. This and the previously mentioned related inventions are primarily intended to fill the growing need for a flame retardant for blended fabrics.